Live To Tell

by Valerie Parv

  Sitting across the table from Blake, Jo made an effort to marshal her thoughts. Difficult when every move he made reminded her of how they had spent the last few hours. How they would spend many more, now that she had accepted his proposal. She had a vision of them sitting across from each other like this years into the future, and knew without doubt it was what she wanted.

  She pulled her thoughts back to the present. “Yesterday, I went to see my brother Curt, the investment banker.”

  Helping himself to Mongolian beef, he asked, “Is Karen paying you too much?”

  “Very funny. I wanted to check out Max Horvath’s finances.”

  “I hope your brother is on the right side of the law.”

  “Curt knows a lot of people, including some of Max’s main creditors.”

  Reaching for the fried rice, Blake paused. “And?”

  “It’s worse than you suspected. Curt says Max has been given a bit over a month to come up with the money he owes, before his creditors move in on his assets.”

  “Including the mortgage over Diamond Downs.” Blake gestured with his chopsticks. “That doesn’t leave us much time.”

  “We’d better hope the canoe photo leads us closer to the diamonds.”

  Jo knew she should get up and clear away the remains of their belated feast and then get ready for the flight to the Kimberley. But she felt good lying in the crook of Blake’s arm and she should enjoy the feelings.

  After they were married, she wouldn’t have the luxury of lying abed, far less leaving last night’s dishes for the morning. She’d have her work to do and if the children didn’t attend school in Halls Creek, she’d have to supervise their lessons by computer.

  Was she ready to turn her whole life upside down? It was one thing to spend a few weeks in the outback, roughing it with frills, to use Blake’s expression. It was quite another to commit to a lifetime on an isolated property with limited shopping and cultural facilities.

  She turned her head to watch Blake sleeping. One arm was under her shoulder and the other was flung over his head. The covers had slid down to his waist and his chest rose and fell rhythmically. The hypnotic sight banished any misgivings. If need be, she could be back in Perth in half a day, or touch down in one of the exotic Asian ports that were closer to the Kimberley than most Australian cities.

  And she would have Blake.

  Did anything else really matter?

  He opened his eyes and gave her a lazy, sexy smile that turned her heart to mush. “You’re thinking again.”

  She traced a finger down his chest. “Only good thoughts.”

  “I prefer naughty ones.”

  “Those, too.”

  He rolled over. “Keep that up and we’ll never make our flight.”

  They did, anyway. And the cleanup and phone calls to his aunt and Lauren, as well as a snack at the airport. As Blake said, it was amazing what could be done in a short time if you had sufficient incentive.

  And what an incentive he provided.

  What a difference a couple of days made, she thought as they checked in at the Great Western terminal. On the flight to Perth, she’d been devastated because Blake had believed she’d been conspiring against him. Now, he not only knew the truth, he also knew Jo hadn’t willingly deceived him.

  In her wildest dreams she’d never imagined returning to the Kimberley as Blake’s fiancée. He’d said they would go to Broome to choose an engagement ring as soon as she finished her story. Seeing the old pearling port through his eyes would be an adventure, but the need for a ring paled beside the love and trust she now felt for him.

  “When shall we tell your family about us?” she asked as the twin-engine Beechcraft taxied out to the runway. She had the uncanny sensation of going home.

  “Judy’s already guessed, which means the whole clan probably knows by now. She practically ordered me to get my butt down here and not let you slip through my fingers.”

  “Now there’s a provocative metaphor.”

  He groaned. “And nothing to be done about it for hours.”

  “Never heard of the mile-high club?”

  He looked around the compact cabin seating less than twenty people. “Not a chance.”

  Aching from last night and this morning, she would have been horrified if he’d treated her suggestion as anything but the joke she’d intended, but she couldn’t resist asking, “What happened to ‘Where there’s a will’?”

  “I was referring to finding the lost mine. While you fare-welled Wylie last night, I called Cade. He thinks he might have come across some more photos linking the canoe in Bob’s pictures with Jack Logan.”

  Although inwardly pleased with his progress, she made a face. “Should I be shattered to discover I wasn’t the only thing on your mind last night?”

  He grinned. “I guarantee I didn’t think about the mine for long. And purely in the interests of providing for you and our future family.”

  “In that case, you’re forgiven.”

  He leaned over and kissed her, making her wonder if her reference to the mile-high club had been as frivolous as she’d thought.

  Judy was waiting for them at the airport, her expression telling them immediately that something was wrong. “It’s Cade,” she said before Blake could voice a question.

  Blake hefted their cases into Judy’s car. “He was fine when we spoke last night.”

  “He isn’t fine now. Last night, he was in Des’s office going through some files when someone broke in and knocked him cold.”

  Blake swore under his breath, his body going rigid. “Is he okay?”

  “He spent the night in the hospital with a nasty lump and a few hours missing from his memory. A few minutes ago, he called to say he’s being discharged. He’s waiting for us to give him a ride home.”

  “Thank God,” Jo said a heartbeat before Blake did. “Did you see whoever did this?” she asked.

  “Dad and I were watching Pearl Harbor at full volume. We didn’t hear a thing, and Cade can’t remember anything from when he went into the office until he came to on the floor.”

  “Was much taken?”

  Judy wrinkled her brow. “That’s the strange part. Nothing, as far as we could tell. The safe and computer equipment weren’t touched.”

  “How’s Des handling this?”

  “About as badly as you’d expect. He’s convinced Max Horvath is behind the attack. Left alone, he’d ride over there and challenge Max if it killed him, and it probably would.”

  A trace of a smile haunted Blake’s features. “What do you think?”

  “I think I’m a damned fool for giving Max an excuse to hang around the homestead.”

  Jo knew as well as Blake that nothing he could say would assuage Judy’s feeling of guilt, and she might very well be justified. “Was he with you last night?” Blake asked.

  “He tried to invite himself to dinner but I told him I had female problems. He couldn’t get away fast enough. He looked so embarrassed that wild horses wouldn’t have dragged him back.”

  Blake gripped the car door frame. “Could Eddy Gilgai be responsible for the attack on Cade?”

  Judy looked thoughtful. “Do you think he’d be that stupid?”

  Blake smacked a hand to his forehead. “I’m the stupid one. I’m pretty sure I know what Cade’s attacker was looking for.”

  “The canoe photos,” Jo contributed, making the connection at the same moment. She got into the back seat, leaving the front for Blake and Judy.

  “What canoe photos?” Judy asked as she drove toward the hospital.

  Blake explained about finding the photos in Bob Stirton’s collection. “Cade thought he’d found some more in a file in Des’s office.”

  “After Cade was taken to the hospital, the police asked me to check to see what was missing. I don’t remember seeing any file of old photos.”

  Blake swore. “Whoever hit Cade must have taken them.”

  Jo leaned on the seat between them. “We
think Max is getting desperate. In Perth, I learned that his creditors have given him a little over a month to meet their demands.”

  Judy’s hands tightened around the wheel. “Oh, God, I didn’t know. The embarrassment could have been an act. He could have sneaked back last night.”

  “Or he could have sent one of his henchmen. You weren’t to know.”

  Judy slammed her palms against the wheel, making the car shudder. “I should have known. I was so busy playing Jane Bond, thinking I could get under his guard, that I never dreamed he would get under mine.”

  “He’s had more practice at this than you have,” Jo reminded her. “The only way he could have known about the file was if he overheard the phone call between Blake and Cade.”

  In the driving mirror, Jo saw Judy’s face pale. “I’m beginning to wish we’d never heard of the wretched diamond mine. What if Max finds it before we do?”

  Blake’s mouth thinned. “We still have Bob’s photos. And there’s no way Max can know about Jo’s hidden valley. That gives us an edge.”

  Judy shot him a hopeful glance before returning her gaze to the road. “Do you think it’s enough?”

  “It has to be. I owe Des too much to let Max Horvath destroy him.”

  “You know Dad doesn’t think like that.”

  “No, but I do.”

  Hearing the steely ring in his voice, Jo felt a surge of renewed hope. If he believed the landmarks in Bob’s photos would lead them to a fortune that had been lost for decades, she would keep the faith, too. They were in this together.

  “I need some good news,” Judy said as they approached the hospital building. “Tell me you two have worked things out.”

  Blake blew out a breath. “We’ve worked things out.”

  “Woo-hoo! This will make Dad’s day, as well.” She pulled up outside the main entrance. “Hold the details till we collect Cade, then you won’t have to say everything twice.”

  “There’s something else,” Blake said, putting a hand out to keep his foster sister in the car. “In Perth, we found out who my birth mother was, and why she abandoned me.”

  Judy looked stunned. “I know you said it was a possibility, but to know for sure? Are you okay?”

  “As okay as you’d expect. I’ll fill you and Cade in on the way home.”

  Tension vibrated through his foster sister. “Do you still think of Diamond Downs as home?”

  “It always will be.”

  Jo saw Judy’s eyes brim. “All my life I’ve dreamed you’d find your natural family, but I was also scared that if you did, we’d lose you.”

  “Now you know that isn’t going to happen.” His voice sounded rough with emotion. “Finding out where I came from has made me even more thankful for everything Des and you guys did for me, and more determined than ever to keep Diamond Downs safe for the next generation.”

  His fingers gripped Jo’s. “Max Horvath has no idea what he’s taken on. If he wants a war, he’s got one.”

  Chapter 17

  Jo awoke to an unfamiliar sound and took a moment to identify it. Suddenly, it hit her. For the first time in her experience, it was raining at Diamond Downs.

  Judy had put her and Blake in the same connecting rooms they’d used before. Jo stretched and smiled. Two beds still hadn’t been needed. She’d woken up beside him this morning. But he was already up, so she padded to the window and watched the fat droplets of water pelt the glass and stream down the dust-caked surface.

  She had never seen rain like it. Sheets of water bounced off the parched earth out of a sullen sky. Miserable-looking working dogs huddled in their kennels in the dusty yard. The air felt too oppressive to breathe. This must be the start of the north’s famous wet season when monsoon rain fell for months at a time, filling the empty riverbeds and spreading in shallow lakes across the plains as far as the eye could see.

  Then she remembered the tide marks high overhead in the hidden valley. If The Wet had indeed arrived, what chance did she and Blake have of reaching the diamond mine before Max’s creditors moved in?

  On edge with worry, she showered and dressed in T-shirt and jeans, and tied her hair into a high ponytail for coolness. When she went into the kitchen, Judy was cooking breakfast. Cade sat at the table, an impressive white bandage bound around his head.

  Judy good-humoredly refused Jo’s offer to help, so she poured herself some coffee and sat down beside Cade. “How do you feel?”

  “Foolish.” He touched the bandage and winced in pain. “If it wasn’t for the pounding in my head, I’d think I imagined being clobbered. I can’t remember a thing after dinner yesterday until I surfaced in the hospital.”

  “The pounding is the reason you can’t remember,” Judy said, placing a plate of eggs and bacon in front of him. Evidently the injury hadn’t lessened his appetite. “You’re only upset because you can’t keep joshing Blake about being caught with his pants down.”

  Jo knew Cade and the others had enjoyed teasing Blake about being caught unawares at the overhang, letting Eddy Gilgai sneak up on him. Now the score was even.

  Jo refused Judy’s offer of a cooked breakfast and reached for a container of cold cereal. “I can’t think of eating hot food in this weather.” As she ate, she asked, “Do you think the rain is here to stay?”

  Seated across from her, Judy shrugged. “Hard to tell. We usually have a few warm-up downpours before The Wet really sets in.”

  Jo’s sigh of relief was audible. “I was afraid we’d lost our chance to explore the hidden valley.”

  “Probably why Blake wanted to get over there so early this morning,” Judy said.

  “He what? We were supposed to go together.”

  Judy toyed with her food. “Maybe he had an attack of chivalry and decided against dragging you out in the rain.”

  “Surely the decision should be mine?”

  Cade cupped his hands around his coffee mug. “When it comes to women, Blake has a strong, protective urge.”

  “Don’t I know it,” Judy agreed.

  Thinking of how often her own brothers had driven her crazy trying to baby her, Jo shook her head. “He knows I don’t want a protector.”

  Judy lifted her hands, palms outward. “You’ll have to work that out with Blake.”

  Jo set her jaw. “I intend to, just as soon as he gets back.”

  Her future sister-in-law grinned. “From the look of you, I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes when he does.”

  Was what he had done so terrible? Jo asked herself as she returned to the bedroom. Through the connecting door, Blake’s unused bed mocked her. By taking the decision to accompany him out of her hands, Blake had made her feel less like a full partner in their relationship.

  Needing to pace, she wandered into the other room, coming up short at the sight of one of Bob’s copied photos propped on Blake’s desk. She turned it over. “Join me at Cotton Tree Gorge after breakfast.”

  Sweet relief washed over her. Had he understood her feelings after all? The note looked as if he’d written it in the dark to avoid waking her. Even so, he still had explaining to do. Such as what was so all-fired urgent that he couldn’t wait and take her with him?

  Judy looked concerned when Jo explained where she was going. “We’ve had enough rain to make the land look different. You should take me or Cade with you.”

  “Cade’s in no shape to go anywhere, and you should be here in case Des needs you.” She listened for a moment. “The rain sounds like it’s easing off. I’ll be fine.”

  Judy spun a bunch of keys across the table. “You’ll be safer if you take the pickup.”

  Jo pocketed the keys. “Thanks. I’ll call you when I catch up with Blake.”

  The rain had indeed eased off and patches of blue showed through the leaden sky. Her heart lightened with the weather as she drove.

  She was still mad as hell.

  Since her abduction, her family had tried to make decisions for her and protect her from everything remotely ri
sky. Her early boyfriends had had to run the gauntlet of two testosterone-charged inquisitors, and she’d had chaperones to everything other than church. They’d probably have accompanied her there, but she’d joined the choir to thwart them.

  Coming of age hadn’t made much difference. Her brothers had vetted her apartment before she bought it, conducting a house-to-house of the neighbors for her safety, they’d said. She believed it was to check for single male tenants. Just as well chastity belts had gone out of fashion or she’d be locked away in a tower somewhere, a frustrated virgin.

  Blake knew perfectly well how she felt about making her own choices. He had no right to leave her behind for her own good. They needed to start as they meant to go on, she resolved. If she let him treat her like fragile china now, their marriage wouldn’t stand a chance. If he acted like this now, imagine how he’d behave if she became pregnant?

  Distracted, Jo had to slow down while she got her bearings. True to Judy’s prediction, the downpour had filled the creeks and started to carve new ones. Rock walls glistened with newly revealed layers of color. The landscape looked freshly minted. And different.

  Apart from the usual bush sounds of insects and distant animals, she was alone, but her nerves prickled as if she were being watched.

  Get a grip, she ordered herself. No sense letting the bush get to her. The adversaries she really needed to worry about were all too human, and she was the only one for miles.

  Retracing Blake’s route to the gorge was tougher than she’d expected. But giving up and returning to the homestead in defeat wasn’t an option. She could do this, she repeated to herself as she hunched over the wheel, the sound of her engine reverberating around the ochre cliffs.

  At last, the track widened to a familiar stretch of land along the lower reaches of the Bowen River. She stared in amazement. The rock terraces edging the river were now lapped by a widening ribbon of dun-colored water. The smell of mud, mangroves and tropical blossoms wafted up to her.

  Blake’s Jeep stood well away from the water, under a tree. Feeling her heart leap, she parked beside it and lifted out her hat and water bottle. Backing out of the car, she gave a shriek as a pair of arms closed around her.